Pianoforte-action



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.'

ELON A. LEE, OF ROXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS.

PIANOFORTE-ACTION. i

Specification of Letters Patent No. 10,948, dated May 23, 1854.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, ELoN ALONZO LEE, of Roxbury, in the county of Norfolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have n- Vented certain new and useful Improvements in that Part of Pianofortes commonly called the Actiom thus forming what I designate the Grand Nerve-Action, and I do hereby declare that thel following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, refer-r ence being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of the specification, in which- Figure I is a side elevation and Fig. II is a plan of the same, both of the full ordinary size.

A, B, represents the key of the piano forte, and C, the jack or hopper made in the usual style of t-he English jack or hopper, with the exception that the fixed arm a of the jack is left shorter than the fly or movable arm c, in order that the key and the jack may be removed whenever necessary without interfering with the rest of the action. The movable arm e, of the jack, is hung by a parchment hinge at one end as is usual, and at its free end strikes the under hammer D. The spring d made fast to the base of the jack C and playing against the fly or movable arm c together with the regulating screw e and its button f covered with cloth are the same as in the English jacks. But the button f instead of playing against the fixed arm a prolonged in the usual manner plays against a wire g which comes to it from the under hammer D, so that by the pressure of the button f on thc wire g when the key is raised, the fly and movable arm of the jack is thrown off from the boss of the under hammer z' to the recess j thus forming an esca-pement of the fly c from the under hammer, and thus at the moment the hammer G strikes the string, the under hammer is allowed to fall a little, until the boss ,7c of the under hammer which is formed by an extension of the under hammer, or any equivalent strikes the fly o where it rests thus allowing the hammer with which this under hammer is connected, in the way hereinafter described, to fall a short distance from the string, and there remain, if required so as to be in readiness for a repetition movement until the finger is removed from the key, when by the falling of the key and the pressure of the spring above the recess y' may be of any convenient distance so as not to interfere with the easy play of the other parts of the action, but my own experience is that from the sixteenth to the eighth of an inch is best. The bosses and recess of the under hammer areA to be packed and covered with wash leather or other suitable material in the usual manner.

Instead of the wire g coming from the under hammer' nearly at right angles to the button f as represented in Fig. I, this wire may come from the under hammer in the direction represented in Fig. I by the wire m, the extremity of which may be armed with a 'but-ton f to play against the button f, and also if desired against the packing 7) which covers the short arm a of the jack C. By using a wire extending in the direction of g or m or any equivalent direction armed with a button to play against the short arm a of t-he jack C covered with its cushion or packing b I can, if desired, either dispense with that part of the under hammer and its bosses and recess marked in Fig. I with the letters z', j, and la, and produce the same motion of the hammer, or I can retain that part of the under hammer with its said bosses and recessrand use said wire and button playing against said arm a as auxiliary in producing the motion of' the hammer.

The under hammer D, instead of being hung by a ange or parchment joint, at the end opposite the bosses and recess just described, as is usually done, is attached firmly to one arm of an elbow lever E, the fulcrum of which is a supporter K, made fast to a rail M, which is usually called the fiange rail. This elbow lever is connected with the supporter K, by a flange joint, the pin or wire of which is it, on which it easily turns. The other arm of this elbow lever is attached by a hinge or flange joint to the flange or stem of the hammer- F, F. The end of the hammer stem F, F, opposite the hammer is connected with the supporter K by a connector L furnished with flange joints so as to move easily at each extremity. The hammer G is connected with its stem F, F, in the usual manner.

The damper I-I, I construct by connecting it with the under hammer D by a wire I and by a wooden rod or any equivalent J, T, by means of a screw or pin '11 on which it easily turns. This wooden rod J, T, or its equivalent, forms a lever which has a projection. that rests on a rail O covered with cloth or on the thick packing Z) which is inserted in a groove in said `rail O so as to afford a supportto said damper rod; and as the under hammer D falls it carries down with itthat extremity of the rod J, T, attached to it by the wire and pin n, and raises the other end and carries up the damper wire I and damper H to the string. The head of the damper H may be made and covered in the usual manner, or the wooden part of the damper head may be made in the form of a wedge and covered in the usual manner so as by its stroke to pass between the strings and thus damp the sound.

The `rail O covered with cloth or with thick packing inserted into a groove as above described extends the whole length of the piano action, and at its extremities is hung by arms which swing or slide back and forth, one of which is represented by N in Fig. I, and these arms are connected with the pedal movement `of the piano in any convenient mode; so that by swinging or sliding down these arms, the rail YO is allowed to fall a short distance when the object is to take the damper off the strings in playing, or it may fall a greater distance so as to allow the damper to fall below the wires and sounding board, so that the entire action may be readily removed from the case and replaced without striking or disarranging any of its parts.

The dampers may be constructed in the usual manner if that should be preferred by any one, the damper lever playing on the extremity B of the key A, B, and its wire passing bet-Ween the strings and damping from above as in common piano fortes.`

The key A, B, being raised, the fly arm o of the jack C strikes the boss c' of the under hammer D and raises that extremity of it which it touches. The other extremity of t-he under hammer D being connected with one arm of the elbow lever as before described, by its motions causes that lever to turn on its fulcrum h and while it depresses the extremity to which the under hammer D is attached as above described, at the same time it forces up the other extremity of the elbow lever E, thus also forcing up the hammer stem F, F, which, on account of its connection L, can only move in that direction, carrying up the hammer, of course, until the hammer strikes the string, at which moment the fly arm 0 of t-he jack, which has been properly adjusted by means of the adjusting screw c and the button f, has been by the motion of the wire g or the wire m with the butt-on f, forced off the boss z' and by means of the recess the under hammer is allowed to fall a little, which also brings down the hammer G a short distance from the string and holds it in readiness for the repetition stroke as often as needed. The Same construct-ion substantially of the action will apply to any of the varieties of piano fortes with such modifications as the size or form of the instrument may require without the addition of any new principle.

Having thus described my invention and improvements in the action of piano fortes, what I claim as new and my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows, to wit:

l. I claim the arrangement of the adjusting screw e and but-ton f in such a manner that instead of acting against the fixed arm z of the common jack, it is brought to act on a wire or rod or button placed in the same manner with the wire g or m with its button as represented in Fig. I, or in any manner which is equivalent, so that as the under hammer is raised this wire or rod by itself or by means of its button moving in connection with the under hammer assists, by pressing)f against the button of the adjusting screw, to throw off the iy or movable arm c of the jack to the recess j of the under hammer at the moment the hammer reaches the string, thus giving a free hopping motion to the hammer within diminishing the force of its blow against the string; and as the tendency of the spring d is at all times to bring back the button f against the wire g or button y (whichever is used) the extremity of the fly c and the under hammer are kept in contact so that the loose and uncertain movement which in trilling is often experienced in common piano fortes is avoided.

2. I claim the combination of levers, connectors and supporters by means of which the motion is communicated from the under hammer to t-he hammer substantially in the manner represented in the accompanying drawings, or in any equivalent manner, by which I am enabled to dispense with the hammer-rails and back-catches of common piano forte actions.

3. T claim the use of the movable connector L with its flange joint substantially in the manner represented in the accompanying drawing or in any equivalent manner for connecting the hammer stem F, F, with the supporter K which shall allow the hammer stem as it is moved to be carried backward and upward or in equivalent directions,) at the same time, so that the whole course of the hammer stroke shall be nearly at right angles to the string instead of forming an arc of a circle and producing what is called the drawing movement `of common piano fortes.

4. I claim the connect-ion of the damper through the under hammer and the hammer With the opposite arms of a lever turning on a fixed fulcrum so as to give an opposite motion to each, that is, to throw up the damper While the hammer falls, and vice versa, thus enabling me, by the forces Which act at the different extremities of this lever to put the hammer and damper in equipoise with each other, or otherwise at pleasure7 Without affecting the key, so that the touch of the key may be made as delicate as desired.

5. I claim the arrangement of the damper ELON ALONZO LEE.

Attest ISAAC AMES, LYMAN MABON. 

